A lot of people are talking today about Sen. Obama's stance against Prop. 8; it's a recommended diary on Daily Kos. We had this on Calitics two days ago and nobody noticed. The Sacramento Bee reports on it and suddenly it's on everybody's lips.
I don't begrudge the Bee writing about the issue; it's newsworthy, and the result of a letter read to the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, not some secret. I'm glad they picked it up. But I'm very disturbed by the fact that progressive media is not supported to the point of being ignored, but when a dead-tree source goes with the same information it becomes a top story. I expect that out of the traditional media, but not the blogosphere. There is no question that Brian was the first person anywhere to report on Sen. Obama's letter to the club. And I can tell you that I did at least some behind-the-scenes work to promote the scoop to progressive media and blogosphere leaders. Didn't work.
I don't care that the Bee didn't report that Calitics was the first source to break this; would have been nice, but not totally necessary. But could bloggers at least note that we had this two days before the traditional media? If we aren't self-reinforcing we're never going to get anywhere.
A quick bit of meta for you this Thursday morning. Occasionally people want to use the name Calitics for promotional purposes. As in "Calitics said X about Candidate Y." That's ok, but only if Calitics did actually say that. "Calitics says" can only be attributed to our editorial board speaking as a whole. The following 6 people, who make up our editorial board, are also allowed to speak for Calitics, and should be attributed to "Editor Name of Calitics":
Robert (in Monterey) Cruickshank
David Dayen
Brian Leubitz
Lucas O'Connor
Julia Rosen
Jeremy Woodburn (jsw)
If one of those 6 people did not write it, then please make it specifically clear that no one speaking for Calitics said whichever statement you are intending to credit, rather say "a diarist JohnDoe wrote at Calitics" or something equivalent.
No, actually, we just signed on to a letter to Howard Dean taking a critical look at the state blogger credential selections for the Democratic National Convention. As Matt Stoller notes, some of the selections were unusual, whether in Michigan or New Jersey or New York, and we're just looking for some answers about the process. I don't envy the DNC's job here; you're talking about hundreds of blogs in 50 states and only enough room for one each (maybe that was the problem). But it seems like some more care could have been taken. Marc Ambinder reports on it and prints some of the letter. Here's the whole thing (on the flip):
Last year, the convention was down the hill from my front door, and it was the first or second time I had met many of the bloggers and activists from around the state. This year, in my first hour in the Convention Center I was happy to see again dozens of fellow bloggers, candidates, activists and friends from every corner of the state.
The growing community is fantastic, but I'm sure that the growing list of disclaimers raises some questions. Workings within the system has long been established as the preferred tactic, and I'm energized by the possibilities. The growth and nuance and personal relationships are encouraging as we head into today's activities.
Sorry to be so brash and commercial about this, but, well, it happens. Tomorrow, Dave Dayen and myself will be hosting another episode of the seriously not regular Calitics at 4 PM. You can listen to the show live on the show page.
Also, in case you haven't been annoyed by my persistence with the mobile site enough, let me bother you again. Calitics will, quite simply, be the best source of information for the Democratic convention. Bar none, gold standard, whatever you want. We'll have several regular posters in San Jose for the event, and you can even comment on the mobile site. We'll provide plenty of open threads for you to post whatever info you want up there. So, make sure you watch the mobile site throughout the three days of the convention. mobile site. mobile site. mobile site. There, now you should remember. :)
OK, SEIU staffers, you're not helping your cause by registering anonymous brand new snarky user IDs just to jump into the SEIU-CNA war. Just stop it. By violating basic norms of behavior (no shilling, no sockpuppetry) and the really really basic site rules that have been so recently pointed out to you, all you're doing is tossing away your credibility with people (e.g., bloggers), who would normally be your natural allies.
And if you don't care about us, think about this: you're undermining your own case. How do you think that a real ordinary SEIU member trying to make their point is now going to be viewed? If you now disclose your affiliation and try to make your case, how do you think you'll be viewed? Sure, you could continue to try circumvent our ability to know who you are and you might eventually succeed, but at this point, you've poisoned the Calitics well for almost anyone taking the SEIU side in this dustup unless they disclose up front that they're spokespersons for SEIU (and still... well, this has not been a good day for you).
Last, maybe you could come by and participate in the Calitics community for some purpose other than attacks on other unions. That would be great. We'd love to have diaries on what SEIU is doing outside of this internecine fight. And you'd have some positive on-line street cred among our community, rather than the negative credibility you're building up.
Ready to promote their bosses at the drop of a hat! Ready to right the wrongs (or rights) of the Internet super-encyclopedia from their office computers at any moment. Yes, they are the Legislative Super Wiki-Avengers!
The Bee did some Wiki-spying on the California state government folks, and found some unsurprising results. They edit Wikipedia! The Assembly wikiscanner report and the Senate report are quite intriguing on their edits. Many of them aren't shocking, a few edits of California universities state senate campaigns, likely by interns from those universities, some changes to some high schools, and some self-aggrandizement of some politicians. Many are quite honest, like adding the committees on which they serve. Others, are a little more suspect. Flip
(I'm thinking of making the endorsement process the subject of our next BlogTalkRadio show, where we will just take calls on the subject. Would you be interested in such a program, and calling in to discuss it? And if so, what time would work next week? - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
As you may have seen, we got a bit of blowback on our endorsement process. Rightly or wrongly, I did think there was a failure, mostly my own, to clearly annunciate our endorsement process. So, we are at a point where we will be reviewing all of our endorsements, so rather than do this piece-meal, I wanted to try to get this done all orderly-like.
So, here's what we're going to do. We are going to have a couple nominating posts, let's say one for Northern California, and one for Southern California. We can debate where the dividing line is, but hopefully it will be obvious. So, once we have a list of nominated individuals, we will design and distribute a questionnaire. We'll post the responses on the site (along with any youtube commentary from the candidates if they so desire). Then, for each region we will select 3 candidates, regardless of the office they are seeking. 1/2 of the vote will come from voting on the site, and 1/2 from our editorial board.
Now, for timeline, I'm thinking I'd like to get this process started by the end of the month to allow us time to draw up the questions (through a post in early October) and then send them off to our prospective endorsees. We'll then do a multi-vote poll on the site as well as polling the Board. The top 3 candidates will receive the endorsement, as long as they each have 3/5 vote from both the Board and the larger Calitics community. I'll be devising a voting process, either within SoapBlox or using SurveyMonkey.com.
We are about to start running a new ad, 2 new ads to be exact. One will be from the Center for Union Facts, an anti-labor organization run by a former tobacco lobbyist. The other will be from me with a disclaimer.
I am totally disgusted by the Center for Union Facts, clear and simple. In fact, labor unions are vital to the continued economic success of the state and our shrinking middle class. CUF is an organization that hides its donors, aims to destroy solidarity amongst workers, and to better corporate coffers. If you've read Calitics pretty long, you'll realize that these are values that are antithetical to our own.
However, like many other progressive blogs, we have a pretty hands-off policy on choosing ads. Basically, if you want to give the site money, it will be accepted. I figure the money does more good with us than with the CUF. In my own ad, I point you to Michigan Liberal, who has a great post on the CUF. Go check it out, and support your favorite union.
After seeing Gila's latest story on The Liberal OC, I've been thinking. I know, I know. That's a REALLY scary thought. But trust me, it's not scary.
All too often when we think of the netroots, we think of those big, glitzy, glamorous national blogs with all those hundreds of thousands of User IDs. We think of that huge convention in Chicago that just ended. We think big, and we think national. But when you really look at the big picture, the national scene is only a small part of it.
The SF Chronicle just caught onto this, and I'm glad to see them noticing. There's a giant segment of the netroots that hasn't been noticed much, but is nonetheless making a huge difference throughout California, and throughout the nation. Follow me after the flip for more...
This needs to get out of my system before I can move on to other topics, like the still missing budget. It's going to be pretty linky, but hey I am a blogger not an op-ed columnist.
Topics covered below the jump: diversity, Paul Hogarth and Clinton, the media and local blogging.
The second annual gathering of the Daily Kos political blog starts this week in Chicago, and here's all you need to know about how influential the YearlyKos convention has become: Five top presidential candidates are going -- including front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, even though the Kos bloggers don't like her that much.
Analysts say the community of liberal online activists -- the "netroots" -- has become not only a coveted constituency for the left but a legitimate threat to conservatives, who trail Democrats in online campaigning and fundraising. (SF Chronicle 7/30/07)
And Calitics will have a big contingent at this year's YearlyKos Convention. Julia Rosen, Lucas O'Connor, Dave Dayen, Bob Brigham, Dante Atkins (hekebelos) and myself will all be there. It should be a fantastic opportunity to network, talk about all the cool things Calitics is doing with Calitics en espanol and the Calitics show, and get more great ideas. In the interim, we won't be doing a Calitics show this week. We'll be posting occasional stories about the event as time permits. And, since the presidential candidates are going to be there, we'll try to get some video of that on the site.
Anything else you want to hear about from Chicago? Did I miss anybody on the list of attendees? Want to be on the Calitics trivia team? Leave a comment.
[UPDATE By Julia] Well, why don't I just use this thread to do what David, Matt Ortega and I were discussing last night. The three of us are moderating the CA/HI regional caucus that Kid Oakland put together. What issues would you like to see discussed at that meeting? Keep in mind that we only have an hour and time will be set aside for the candidates. Oh and yes Brian you missed at least two, Matt O and Jenifer Ancona.
I've spiffed-up the RSS feed by adding Recommended Diaries. Also, when the software gets upgraded, the Quick Hits will also appear in the RSS feed. If you read Calitics via the FeedBlitz email service, you will also get a more thorough Calitics experience.
If you aren't too sure what I'm talking about, the wikipedia definition of RSS is over the flip.
First, I think it is obvious that we allow anonymous, well, actually pseudonymous, blogging here. There are a number of bloggers at varying levels of anonymity here. For my own part, I began this site as sfbriancl, a derivative of my name (The C standing for Charles, the SF for...uh...SF). And jsw, well, those are Jeremy's initials. Juls seems pretty easy to link to Julia Rosen, same with dday. Lucas was Lucas from the get-go. And we also gave you most of that information in the About Page. But, I guess there was still enough to attack on the basis of anonymity.
Well, tomorrow is Blogosphere Day (and my Birthday, the last one...after this the clock stops as far as I'm concerned). So, I know there are a few things going on around the state. But, what can you do tomorrow? Well, you can toss a few bucks at the Calitics ActBlue Page, (and give a big, smiling tip to the good folks at ActBlue). Or you could nominate somebody to be on the Calitics-endorsed list. Or you could host a little get together in honor of my birthday Blogosphere Day.
And, if you want more history on blogosphere day...um, ask Bob. So, what are you doing?
As part of a quest to communicate with a greater population in the state, we're looking for contributors who can write in Spanish. As I was telling jsw yesterday, sure, I can understand Spanish and communicate a bit, but I don't really feel comfortable writing about politics in Spanish. But, I'm hoping that somebody out there does. So, if you are interested in writing for Calitics en español, please let me know.
Also, if any politicians release bilingual statements, send those my way as well. I can usually hack my way through those. I'm afraid I won't be able to do much with other languages. And, of course, diaries by elected officials, in any language, are much appreciated around here. I don't actually know how SoapBlox would deal with Asian languages, however.
(Also, there's still time to give some money in Q2. Go to our ActBlue Page. - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
The good times just kept on rolling, until well, it got really freaking cold at Zeitgeist. We had about 30 people there, who braved my overly optimistic weather forecasts and the contact highs to come out and have some beer and conversation. Every once in a while it is great to just turn off the computer and meet some of those people that you talk to online. Plus, the quarterlies brought in about $1500. Not bad for the beginning of what we hope to be a great tradition in California's progressive politics
In the photo, Jenifer Ancona (jra) is talking to Robert Greenwald and Brian Devine (Be_Devine).
I especially apologize to Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films for not telling him that it can get kinda chilly at the outdoor venue. My bad. But, Robert did give us some really interesting information. Apparently he is working on a new project Supermarket Swindle. Did you know that since 2002, the supermarket workers have gotten 0 pay raises? Yet, the CEOs have had raises up to 700%. Pretty nice gig, huh?
Well, George Miller gets many things. That much can be seen through his stellar 93.52 score on Progressive Punch, but I'm specifically referring to his Internet game.
George Miller has a facebook account, but that's fairly common. Rep. Miller also has a Facebook Group. Ok, that's cooler, but still not unique. But how many other Congress critters have their own Facebook app? Well, your answer would be 0. Toss in his cool "Ask George" website on the House server, and you have the Congressional leader in internet advocacy.
Rep. Miller gets the importance of the internet and two-way communication. His Ask George Group specifically asks for questions and comments on issues that concern constituents, and netroots folks.
So, how cool would this be for, say, the governor? Or, wait, maybe George Miller could be our governor! How sweet would that be. I might need to start up a draft George Miller for 2010 right now. Summary of links over the flip...
What comes before Part B? (depends on where you live) SF and SoCal answers.
California Congressman George Miller (D-Martinez) has really been reaching out online as of late (keep it up and ramp it up). While his Darfur youtube video is important, what I really like is his new Facebook group for, "questions and suggestions about what Democrats are and should be doing to stop the War in Iraq." Miller is an super-great Congressman and is in the Speaker's inner circle so go tell him your ideas and -- who knows -- it just might happen.
Speaking of Facebook, if you are a political junkie and haven't yet signed up, you are selling yourself short. So go set up an account and then join the Calitics group
Is Lee Kaplan a douchebag? The line has a question mark because I don't want to have to pay up $7,500 like some poor Berkeley undergrad who took on the wingnut writer. If (hypothetically) I were to write about such a guy I'd probably make some reference to wetting his pants because some might say when he writes it is with such a voice of fear of the terra that there would be more to laugh at seeing him in person than just reading his junk.
Is Gavin Newsom glorious or is this just his GF talking (Swiss Miss vs. Beth Spotswood -- always love it). According to some British online gambling site the answer to the odds is 42:1 that Spots would prevail.
San Francisco 4 Democracy Political Affairs Committee meeting has been rescheduled for the following Wednesday, June 27.
The good times just kept on rolling, until well, it got really freaking cold at Zeitgeist. We had about 30 people there, who braved my overly optimistic weather forecasts and the contact highs to come out and have some beer and conversation. Every once in a while it is great to just turn off the computer and meet some of those people that you talk to online. Plus, the quarterlies brought in about $1500. Not bad for the beginning of what we hope to be a great tradition in California's progressive politics